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The CBSA is a law enforcement agency made up of professionals who are trained to carry out their responsibilities with respect, integrity, honesty and accountability. Our employees are responsible for conducting themselves at all times in a way that upholds the public interest and is in keeping with the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector and the CBSA Code of Conduct.

CBSA Professional Standards reviews allegations of Code of Conduct violations by CBSA employees, and conducts Professional Standards Investigations as required. The findings of these investigations are provided to CBSA Labour Relations who, in turn, take appropriate action when there is evidence of misconduct.

The following chart provides statistical information on the number of professional standards investigations conducted and their outcome over the 2013 calendar year.

* the evidence could neither confirm nor refute the allegation
** the complainant withdrew his/her complaint after the formal investigation was initiated

When misconduct arises and it is determined that disciplinary measures are necessary, these are meant to be corrective in nature rather than punitive. Disciplinary measures are intended to motivate employees to adopt appropriate behaviour and encourage them to adhere to the high standards of conduct that the Agency has identified as necessary to deliver on its mandate. In certain cases, however, transgressions warrant termination.

The following chart provides statistics on the disciplinary measures that were taken in 2013 for the entire Agency.

Disciplinary Measures for the CBSA Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2014

Oral Reprimand

Written Reprimand

Suspension 5 days and less

Suspension
More than 5 days

Financial Penalty

Demotion

Termination

21

66

77

25

0

0

12

About the numbers:

Not all cases involving disciplinary measures are the result of a professional standards investigation.

Investigations statistics are entered after a case has concluded. Instances where an investigation spans two calendar years will be counted in the year that a decision is rendered.

In keeping with the Privacy Act, information on individual cases will not be released.

While one incident of misconduct is one incident too many, these numbers need to be understood in the context of a population of over 14,000 employees.